Given that the esports industry revenue is already far exceeding the government’s expenditure on the entire gamut of sports, there is clearly a lot more that can be done by authorities to further brighten the prospects of what is often, and accurately, described as one of India’s sunrise industries.

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Abhishek Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO, Trinity Gaming India, says that with India being on the cusp of a digital revolution, the AVGC sector is considered to be a powerhouse and contribute to the country’s growth.

“Due to its immense potential, the previous year’s budget witnessed our Hon’ble finance minister addressing the AVGC as a sector with huge employment opportunities for the youth. With the recent developments regarding the policies and appointment of a nodal ministry, we look forward to another annual budget with a positive outcome for the AVGC sector,” he says.

Former eSports athlete and Founder & CEO of 8bit Creatives Animesh Agarwal says that the sector is eagerly awaiting a progressive policy structure from the government, which they hope will consider levying a lower tax slab than the existing 18%.

“The sector aligns well with the government’s digital economy vision, and we expect the budget to lay out a specific plan for the growth of esports including setting up of a task force, plans for infrastructural development for esports, training programs, youth awareness programs and most importantly an esports vision for India, defining a future state where we want to be,” he says.

Industry stakeholders say they need government impetus to invite more investments into the sector, through a mix of ease of business and financial incentives in the budget. “With adequate support, the esports industry has the potential for overall economic growth, job creation and contribution to the government’s vision of a trillion-dollar digital economy by 2025,” says Agarwal.

Rohit N Jagasia, Founder and CEO of Revenant Esports, agrees and hopes that the 2023 budget will take steps to not only empower the gaming industry but also offer an incentive for the esports ecosystem in the country.

“We definitely depend a lot on direct investments and these investors play a crucial role. We hope they can suggest minimum taxation costs for this segment to attract more investors. The multisport event tag adds value to the credibility of our new-age sports i.e. esports like any other mainstream sport played in our country and we hope the prize pool winnings of our esports athletes should be exempted from income tax just like any other sportsperson,” he says.

Richa Singh, Co-Founder and CEO of FanClash, Asia’s Largest Esports Fantasy Platform says it is tough to predict much, but it would help the esports sector if the government can allot a decent share of the budget for the esports industry.

“Indian Esports still has a long way to go and needs attention on funding for research and development; it needs reforms in tax incentives for game developers and esports organizations. More training centers need to be built, we need professional trainers and exchange programs which could be beneficial to strengthen their strategies and be prepared for international tournaments,” she says, adding that additionally, the government may also consider regulations and policies to support the growth of the industry to minimize risks of fraud, protect the rights of gamers and promote fair competition.

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Meanwhile, Vinod Tiwari, President, Esports Federation of India is expecting a favourable move from the government during the Union Budget. “It would be a great advantage to the esports community if our government considers allocating an ‘Esports Development Fund’ similar to countries like Malaysia, Korea etc. which would support Indian gaming studios to build esports video game titles based on Indian history/ethos,” he says.

Experts agree that our players need facilities/training centers, advanced gears, boot camps and coaching to be set, we need to provide top coaches, and other facilities to ensure they get complete support and can perform their best. Not only the government but the corporates should also start allocating budgets for esports.

Gaurav Kapoor, Chief Finance Officer, Baazi Games, is hopeful that the 2023 Union Budget will bring in more conducive changes, saying that the need of the hour is to have a progressive taxation regime to help India become a global gaming hub.

He adds, “We strongly believe that gaming is going to be one of the key sectors in the next five years to drive significant growth in employment opportunities. We hope that the budget will contain announcements that promote Indian game developers and service providers to grow the ecosystem holistically.”

For Rohit Agarwal, Founder and Director of marketing agency Alpha Zegus, there are some major expectations from the 2023 Union Budget, not least of which is fixing the tax slab, as mentioned above. “We are currently on a gradually growing path of increasing in-app spending and purchases related to gaming. Making the slab 28% would set us back to square one,” he says.

Then there is the fact that gaming – be it mobile or PC – requires hardware (semiconductors, batteries, etc). “We are hoping there are some import duty relaxations on these items, or there is a bigger focus on the ‘Make in India’ initiative for these items. Any of these two actions will cause a drop in hardware cost, which will increase hardware accessibility and upgradability for gamers,” he says.

And of course, industry insiders are keen that internet and broadband services be made cheaper and more accessible. The greater majority of the Indian gaming audience is from Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns, and a slash in internet pricing would encourage more young adults to take up gaming.

Back to the Future

Bharat Patel, Chairman and Director, Yudiz Solutions Ltd. points out that since the rise of technologies like Metaverse, Gaming, and Blockchain, people have learned and started investing in associated areas to those technologies interestingly. The AVGC policy introduced by our respected Financial Minister will lay a path for organizations like us to synergize such technologies for providing scalable solutions in Animation, Gaming, AR/VR, and much more.

“There are around 250 million gamers across the globe, the size of the global animation market has crossed 400 million US dollars, and there are more than 50 million VR and 90 million VR users. All these numbers evidently direct towards the growth of respected sectors and I am delighted to hear our next budget is going to focus on those areas,” he notes.

As Sai Srinivas, Co-founder and CEO, Mobile Premier League (MPL), sums up, “2023 is already shaping up to be a watershed moment for the gaming industry. With the government releasing draft online gaming rules earlier this month, the burgeoning sector will see a lot more success this year.”

He further asserts, “Access to financial support, as envisaged under the previously set up AVGC Fund, will be a tremendous boost to young talented developers and designers, and will accelerate the push to ‘Create in India’ and take made-in-India games to the world. We believe that India’s online gaming industry can truly lead the charge in the global digital economy and a uniform, progressive policy can be the wind in its sails.”